Slow Cooked Green Chicken Chile

My sweet young friend is about to get married. How exciting!  My husband and I are about to celebrate 10 years of marriage. So, most of our friends are in their mid-40s and we haven't been to a wedding in years! The thought of a fresh couple uniting is the sweetest thing to me and I just love it when the bride-to-be asks me for advice... any advice at all! I'm happy to offer suggestions about even the most mundane things.  We love to talk about food and from time and she'll ask me for a recipe.  This is one of them. Any little offering towards a happy, healthy (& well fed) home; I'm happy to help!  I guess its the little sister in me, always dreaming of big sister status.

Our bride-to-be Samantha joined me and Pam to our little local town Chili Cook-Off.  The winner was a green chicken chili. It was really delicious.   Sam asked me to put together a recipe similar to the winner.... like, ok...(?)  Anyway, its taken me awhile to get it, but here is my slow-cooker, very easy version:

The ingredients are simple.  With the exception of the tomatillos, you may have most of these things in your kitchen:

• 6-8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 6-8 tomatillos, husked and roughly chopped
• 1 white onion, chopped
• 3  7 oz cans of mild diced green chilis*
• 2  15.5 oz cans of cannellini beans
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• juice of a lime

*we've roasted hatch chilis in other chili recipes, but wanted this one to be as simple as opening a can... easy enough to prep in the morning before work.

Here's what you'll do:

1. Toss all of the ingredients in your slow cooker, stir it up a bit.

2. Set the slow cooker on low for 8 hours, or high for 6 hours.

3.  When you're ready to eat, use a fork to pull the chicken apart into shreds.  Add more salt & pepper to your preference.

4.   Garnish with cilantro and lime (optional)

Enjoy!

xo & a pinch, 

Kelly

Repost: Slow Simmered Split Pea Soup

On a freezing cold day, especially during my favorite thing in the winter (a snow storm) we like warm, hearty soup.   During our recent "blizzard", split pea soup was on our menu, and despite appearances, it is truly "blog worthy!"  

The key to the creamy texture, is the slow cooker. It started on the stove but, once all the ingredients were mixed it's moved to the slow cooler and 6 hours later, or 4 hours, whatever your preference, voila! 

What you need: 

• 1 lb bag of split peas
• 2 Tbls olive oil 
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 4 carrots, chopped into centimeter sized pieces 
• 4 celery stalks, chopped into centimeter sized pieces 
• 1/2 bunch of thyme (about 8 stalks) 
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped 
• 4 cups chicken broth 
• 2 pound baby ham hock, cut in half, one half stays whole, the other half gets cut up into centimeter size cubes. 
• Large pot 
• Slow cooker

Like most soup recipes, you'll start the pan with your olive oil, onion, celery and oregano. Let that simmer for about 5 minutes. Add your chopped garlic, your carrots and the all the ham hock, stir it up, add the thyme. and stir another 5 minutes. Things will get cozy, the onions a tiny bit brown. Add your peas and mix a bit longer, maybe 3 minutes, then add your chicken broth. 

I let it simmer for about 5 minutes. At this point, you can keep the process moving for another day or keep it rolling. If you're ready to roll the only thing you need to do is remove the one uncut ham hock (you can leave it out or chop it up, totally up to you on how much ham you'd like in your soup) Next, take the contents of your pot and pour into your slow cooker for 4 or 6 hours. 

You won't believe how beautiful this is when it's done! 

Enjoy, xo Measure 

Hawaiian Pulled Pork Sliders

The tropical slaw adds a great crunch and freshness to the slow cooked pork.  I also just love a recipe that uses up an entire fresh pineapple.   Ok, there were a few bites eaten during the prep phase with a tiny sprinkle of sea salt.  Cooks treat!

This recipe makes a big batch for a crowd of about 6-8.  Its great for game day and will make your house smell like a luau (if its also a pork roast!) 

For the slow-cooked pork:

• 2 pork shoulders
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1/2 fresh pineapple, cored and chopped
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 tsp hot sauce
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• salt & pepper
• slider buns.  We love the sweet Hawaiians!

1. Except the pork, mix all ingredients in a bowl.

2. Place pork into the slow cooker, pour combined ingredients over pork. Massage sauce into pork and cover. Slow cook for 8 hours on low.

3. When cooking is complete, use 2 forks for pull pork into shreds.

For the Tropical Slaw:

• 1/2 red cabbage shredded
• 1/2 green cabbage
• 1/2 fresh pineapple, chopped
• 1 bunch chopped cilantro
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 lime, juiced
• salt & pepper

1.Whisk all ingredients together, except for the cabbage and pineapple.

2. Pour dressing over cabbage and pineapple.  Season with more salt & pepper to taste. (You may wish to add more lime juice or vinegar. Your preference.)

3. Chill for at least an hour.

Serve the sliders on buns adding pork and then slaw.

Enjoy!

xo and a pinch,

Kelly